Gary Russell, Jr. named WBO mandatory featherweight title challenger

Featherweight Gary Russell, Jr. (23-0, 13 KOs) has been designated as the mandatory challenger for the WBO featherweight title and he looks forward to challenging the WBO champion for the title belt within the next 180 days. “On October 9th, my team received written confirmation from the WBO that I am the mandatory challenger for their featherweight world title,” Russell said. “I’m ready for my first world title fight and cannot wait for the fight to get made.”

Russell, who owns two unanimous decision victories in 2013, has been ranked second in the WBO’s featherweight rankings since March. The 2008 Olympian recorded his first victory of the year in early March in a one-handed win over Vyacheslav Gusev. His second victory came in August with a 10-round win over Juan Ruiz. Russell looks forward to stepping up his level of opposition in his first title fight.